The Sun. — London, England, 1864-01-18 00:00:00

The French Legislative Assembly, ?anis, Jan. 15. The Legislative Body sat yesterday—Duke d e Morny in the c hair. M. Rouher, Minister of State ; M. Roul and, Minister presiding over the Council of State ; and the doer Government CommiY.sioners were in their usual places. The order of the day was the adjourned discus sion on the Address, the points under consideration being the amendment relative to the electoral ques tion. M. Thiers—Gentlemen, two amendments were presented on the electoral system. The first has been rejected, and I now rise to speak in support of the second, not that I have the hope or the pre tension to obtain its adoption, but because of an understanding come to some six weeks since, whets I wished to make some observations on the elections, that I should reserve what I had to say till the. de bates on the Address. In entering on this r'eiscus sion the first obstacle I encounter is the allegation that our object is to weaken the moral anthority of the Chamber. Allow me to remove this obstacle. The law has constituted you supreme judges in electoral matters, and you have given your decisions on the late elections. The question has therefore been definitely decided, and I declare to the majo rity, without the least intention of flattery, for at my time of life a ran has no need to flatter any power on earth, that I deeply respect it and bow to its decisions. Ido not hold all your opinions, nor do you hold all mine. To my great regret I shall be compelled to vote against you, but I neverthe less entertain the utmost respect for your intentions. I must beg your permission to make one remark. (" Go on, go on.'') You are in the position of a Power which has not met with any serious opposi tion ; contradiction surprises and offends you. When, like me, you shall have passed long years under the weight of contradiction you will bear it better. I now come to the point under discussion. We think that with regard to principles, the Govern ment pushes them to extremes, and that its moles of proceeding are not all good. You will say that our opinion is open to suspicion, because the proceed ings in question have been directed against ourselves. I admit this, but for the same reasons you are also liable to suspicion. (Movement.) What makes me think that our opinion is not altogether wrong is that I do not see among the Ministers the individual Minister who directed the elections. I cannot think that his services would have been dispensed with had his conduct been altogether irreproachable. Tnis appears to justify our opinion. We shall be told that as the Minister is no longer in power our reproaches are uncalled for. I do not like finding fault, and should not now address you had the pro ceedings of which we complained ceased when the Minister retired from office ; but from what has recently passed, and what is now passing in the Bas-Rhin there seems to be a kind of persistency approaching to bravado. That is why I insist on this question. I do not dispute the pretensions of the Government to have its candidates, and to mani fest its preference. I admit the principle of official candidates, but I shall perhaps be told that I do so on account of my own conduct when Minister of the Interior. It was not so, however, for I have come to this conclusion, purely from conviction, without any reference to my own antecedents. I have re cently reperused the verification of powers in 1534. when I was Minister of the Interior. It was shortly after the insurrection of April, and great exeitement prevailed. Four elections were annulled by the Chamber, and I beg your attention to the grounds for those decisions. The first election was quashed because the candidate, who had been a Prefect, had not retired from his functions for a soacet of six months, as required by law ; the second on account of the candidate's electoral qualification being disputed; and the third, because the person elected was found to want ono vote to make the necessary majority. As to the fourth election, the motive which led to its being annulled was remark. able. The ballot was not commenced at the time appointed, and only remained open four hours in stead of six, and for that reason the election was in validated. Such was at the time the rigorous con duct observed in case of elections. What was the re proach made against us? A member of the Cham ber spoke of a /age de paix who had been threatened with dismissal by a functionary, when the Minister of Justice ascended th© tribune and said that if the functionary who had done so were known he would be himself dismissed. Tnere were among the can didates of that period a son-in-law of Marshal Mor tier. The Sub-Prefect of the Arrondissement, in a private letter to two or three mayors, said that the election of that candidate would be agreeable to the Royal family. On hearing of the fact I disavowed the Sub-Prefect, reprimanded him publicly, and ordered that the King's name should never be men tioned in election matters. (Approbation on several benches.) A Voice—Yon were then a responsible Minister. Thiers—You perceive that we were then very severe with regard to elections. Nevertheless I accept official candidateships, but on certain condi tions. Where is the foundation of the right of the Government to publicly designate its candidates to be found? I fiad rules for the point in free coun tries, and even there the right is limited. If a die. tatorship exists there is no need of discussion. It is therefore, I repeat, in free countries that we must seek for the rules which serve as the foundation of official candidateships, and I look for it in England, the freest of all. There all opinions are divided into two great parties, one which impels the coun try towards what is called progress—a vague word, which I do not much admire, for it may contain evil as well as good—the other wishing to prevent the country from going too fast. The former of those opinions calls itself Liberal, and the latter Conser vative. In England the Liberals take the name of Whigs, and their adversaries that of Tories ; in Belgium the corresponding terms are Liberals and Catholics. Both of those opinions are good, according to the time that is passing. When a country is in the background and some of its institutions out of date, as in the case of the rotten boroughs in England, the Whigs are right ; on the other hand, when the forward movement is too rapid, the Tories do well to check it. Although I am not quite so old as certain jour. nsls pretend, I have several times seen the Whigs and the Tories succeed each other in power, and always for the benefit of the country. In Belgium, thanks to the foresight of the wise and prudent King who reigns there—and only reigns—the Catholics and the Liberals have succeeded each other, and repaired their mutual faults. Both have, there fore, been of use. What are the rights of those different opinions ? When the Whigs are in oposi tion they support their candidates by means of their journals, their meetings, and their subscriptions, and they certainly do not lose that right when the party comes into power. In free countries the Go vernment is nothing more than an opinion which has attained power, and does not for that reason lose its rights; it, however, contracts duties. What are those duties ? The first is to respect propriety. This is not an absolute but a relative duty ; the ob servance may be less rigid in the lower classes of society, but it is stringent in the higher degree of propri e ty. The second of those duties is that of not abusing, in favour of this or that candidate, the Power which Government places in the hands of its agents. Uuder these conditions all opinions have the right of self-defence, and even that of spreading themselves abroad. In England, where there is little or no centralisation, the temptation for parties in power to exceed their duty is not very strong; but in France, the resources which centralisation places in the hands of the Government agents are immense, and to abstain from doing them demands hf abnegation of a stoic. It is your part, gentle men, to become, if not absolute stoics, at least men W ho respect the duties imposed on them by their position. Of all the points of decorum that ought to be respected, the first is not to allow the name of the Sovereign to figure in an electoral contest. But you all know that, in a great number of elections, official candidates have been presented to the country as candidates of the Emperor. Several voices—Of the E mperor ' s G overnment. M. Thiers—l beg pardon ; there were som e , in deed, called as you 8;5 , but there wore oth ers dis tinctly called candidates of the Emperor. If the contrary can be proved, I shall bow to the truth. The Minister of State said the other day that the electoral contest was only the continuation of that which takes place here among the representatives of the country. I admit that assimilation, and ask if any one of you, gentlemen, would presume to pronounce to us such a phrase as " The Emperor will have it so." No one would dare to do this. Therefore, as you would not so use the name of the Emperor in this Chamber, why should you do so in presence of electors ? And in what a position you place a candidate whom you repudiate, but who is nevertheless elected ! You do not contest his oath. How, then, can you say he is the enemy of the Emperor ? Why treat him as such ? Who has told you that he is so ? For my part, I repeat the words which were spoken here the day before yesterday—namely, that all those who entered this Chamber had but one object —to make their ideas penetrate into the mind of the Government. That is the truth, and it is wrong to say at elections that a candidate is an enemy. And the electors them■ selves ! What will happen if you declare them all enemies of the Emperor ? What will it be said after the result of the late elections that during the last few years the Emperor has made himself two millions of enemies? As I wish to avoid strong language, I shall content myself with repeating that to call a candidate or electors enemies is to commit a great imprudence, and I dwell on the point be cause it is desirable that all abuses of language should be suppressed—(assent)—the more so because when moderation is lost sight of in speech, it is often violated in act; and it may be feared that those who so abuse the name of the Emperor may be forced into active measures of a more serious cha racter. We make an immense concession in allow- ing you your official candidateships; but we give them only on condition of the most rigorous ab stention on your part. Without that moderation the danger would be considerable in presence of our system of centralisation. Of that centralisa eion I myself, as every body knows, have been the defender ; it is the principle of French great ness ; it has given us clearness in our ac‘ counts, order and immediate readiness in our means of action, as was seen when France decided on war in the month of March, 1859, and had 200,000 men in Italy in the fist days of April. Ido not wish to compromise this cen tralisation. I remember what a great diplomatist, M. Pozzo di Borgo, said to me on this subject in 1830. I was complaining of the Treaties of 1815, and he said, " You complain that we have taken from you a part of you: territory, but we have left you a unity which gives you an immense force, and which will one day become a danger to ourselves." I replied to him, " You have left us that unity be cause you could not take it from us." (Applause.) Therefore, as it could not be taken from us, let us not fling it away ourselves. Allow me to indicate briefly the bases of centralisation. In the adminis trative class you have the prefects, sub-prefects, ,mayors, and all their agents. If we allow all these functionaries to be nominated by the State we think it necessary that the mayors should be taken from the municipal council, and that they should not be removable at the pleasure of the Government. In the judicial order you have the non•removable judges, who are worthy of all respect, and the re movable functionaries, as honourable, but depen dent. I can understand that these latter should be at the dlsposal of the Government; they do not pro nounce judgments, they merely administer justice. But attached to these Courts there are notaries, ad vocates, huissiers ; and you know well what is the influence of a Procureur-Imperial. I have here a letter from a huissier of the Bas , lthin, where an election is now about to take place, and he declares that he cannot act by reason of the menaces he has received. Next, there is the Finance Department, where the subordinates are numerous and constitute a great power in the hands of the Government. The Ministers of Marine and War are also very power ful. The former holds in his hands the fortunes of the men serving on board, and might in a few hours send a certain nnmber to sea- M. Rouher, Minister of State—For e!cctoral pur poses ? A Minister wha should do that would be impeached. M. Thiers—l might quote facts did I not fear to go beyond the bounds of respect. I endeavour to be courteous towards my adversaries, although you are sometimes hard upon yours. I have no wish to weaken any part of the French Adminis tration, but in the election of Cambrai, which was annulled, was there not a circular which proves the power exorcised by the M inister of War over the conscripts ? In our country the State, in fact, does everything ; at one time it encourages science and the arts, and at another assists communes by the construction of a road, or by endowing it with a school. When such a power interferes with the elec tors of universal suffrage, what becomes of liberty of voting ? All the innumerable agents of the State who were living quietly among the people become on the eve of elections, by orders received from Paris, first silent and then hostile. As far as regards myself personally, I have seen agents of the authority with whom I have been on friendly terms compelled to tell the country that I was a dangerous man. I accept official candidates ; but on condition that the law is respected. The execution of the electoral law is very difficult in Franca, because it so frequently changes. The Government has a right to trace cut the circumscriptions; but it is proper that on the approach of a new or general election those districts should be changed, in order to favour particular can didates ? With regard to the electoral lists, there are some localities where they do not exist, as was proved during the late verification of qualifications. Is it true that the publications made by the non- official candidates meet with impediments which their Government opponents are not subjected to If ao, the mayors ought to receive more formal in structions. The law enacts secrecy for the vote, and that the bulletin shall be written out of the balloting room, and be deposited in the urn by the elector ; and yet there may be seen on the table of the office packets of the bulletins of the Government candi date, but none of his opponents. When I concede to you official candidates I can only do so on condi tion of respect for propriety, abstention from the means of action at the disposal of the Government, and strict observance of the law. If you do not accept these conditions I cannot accord official candidate ships. We are in presence of universal suffrage, which is a dangerous institution, and the Govern. ment ought to have the means of directing it. In giv ing that suffrage have you given liberty to the con trary ? If the former, do not employ the means you now adopt. I know not what the result of univer- sal suffrage may be in the future, but I see what it is now. I am convinced that if fewer attempts were made to enlighten it there would perhaps be more means of control in the bodies of the State, and. in stead of sacrificing the Government to which you are attached you would perhaps save it. (Interruption.) The President—The Government has no fear of being sacrificed, and has no need of being saved. M. Thiers—Do not distort my meaning. The President--I have made that observation to you because I am sure you will give a satisfactory explanation. M. Thiers—Let there not be sought for in nay words any idea of a threat of any kind. What I wish to express is not a menace but a warning. (Movement; approbation on several benches.) M. Rouhor—Let me be allowed to say something also on the question of official candidates, and reply both to M. Jules Favre and M. Thiers, the more so that the difference of opinion which existed between these two orators seems to have disappeared by the last observations made by M. Thiers. M. Favre does not admit such candidateships at all ; M. Thiers does, but on condition that they shall be merely platonic. The difference is not so great as to oblige me to consider those gentlemen in the light of two distinct adversaries. Let me, then, consider the right of intervention:of the Government in elections, and the means this latter ought to employ, and also the part played by the Opposition during the last elections. I shall then examine the results, and endeavour to deduce from it the political bearing of the election of the 31st of May. As to the right of Government intervention, I have already defended it elsewhere, and affirmed it here a few days ago. The Government cannot remain a passive spectator of an operation in which its existence is at stake as well as its policy; an operation in which unexpected complications and secret passions may be brought into play, and during which imprudent promises may be whispered into the ears of misery or excitement; an operation which sets 10 million of electors in mo tion in the midst of conflicting passions, the conse quences of which might become dangerous. The passiveness of the Government in such a question would be tantamount to abdication, and to this we cannot consent. The intervention of Government at elections is justified by common sense and the nature of things, as well as by tradition; and to prove this I will merely quote all the declarations made on this right under the system which was the cradle of that constitutional monarchy which you love so much, the Government of July, and also under the Republic. if these quotations are not useful to the Chamber, they will be so out of doors. In 1816 Duke Decazes wrote to the prefects :—"The confidence of his Majesty in the prefects will not be deceived. They will leave nothing undone to keep away from the Chamber about to be elected both the enemies of the throne and legitimacy who are desirous of overthrowing one and destroying the other; and the imprudent friends who have the pre tension of serving the King otherwise than he wishes to be served." On the 20th of January, 1824, the Minister of Justice wrote to the Procureurs- Generaux, " The Government requires the Pro cureurs du Roi, the officers of justice, and ministerial officers to co-operate loyally, actively, and effica ciously in the elections. The Government appoints to public offices in order to be served and seconded." On the 20th of March, 1826, M. de Martignac, in his report on the bill relating to the permanence of the lists, declared that " the influence of Government over elections is necessary to counterbalance that which is exercised against it, and that it could not, without failing in its first duty, give itself up un armed to its adversaries." We come to 1830—a revolution has occurred, passions are over-excited, the electoral struggle begins, and M. Casimir Perier Minister of the Interior writes to the Prefects " that the Government does not intend remaining neutral in the elections, and that the Administration must not remain so either. Between the impartiality which it must always observe," be adds, " and neutrality the distance is immense." I would not quote M. Theirs's opinion. He has described the ejections of 1834 with great sincerity ; as to his exactness, M. Glais-Bizoin, who was elected in 1834, will tell him that he considered those elections to have been the most detestable and odious operation possible. Glais-Binin—l think so still. M. Rouher—Has time filled up the gulph that existed between you and M. Thiers ? 1 should not be astonished if it had, for of late I have observed that time has filled up abysses still deeper than that. (Much applause.) In 1834, as I was saying, the elections took place in the midst of an agitation caused by events that had ensanguined the streets of Lyons and Paris ; and the same principles were prevalent. In 1846 Count Duchatel wrote, on Sept. 6 :—" There are certain absolute opinions which pretend that the Adminis tration ought to remain impassible and inactive during the elections. No Cabinet has ever done so; we do not com plain of attacks, but what would become of a Government which, when unremittingly assailed, should abstain from defending itself ?" The elections took place, and were veri fied with extreme ardour. Doubtless, M. Thiera himself did not find that all properties had been respected, for the word corruption resounded throughout the whole of France, The year 1848 arrived. M. Jules Favra has not recoiled from the task of defending with his great oratorical energy the acts of that epoch; he has told us that the Government of those days had no official candidates ; that it exercised no pressure on elections; that it saved France, and that it found all Frenchmen rallying themselves around it with an ardour unknown under a monarchy. And can you then affirm that the Government of 1848 did not intervene a t elections ? I assert that it not only exercised its rights, but even abused them. A few citations will show this. In the month of March the Minister of the Interior wrote to the Commissaries of the Republic, "You must now occupy yourselves with the elections--your powers are unlimited!; agents of a revolution, you also are revolutionary ; the victory of the people has imposed on youthe mandato of consolidating the work in the name of public safety." Pub lic safety I A sinister expression which carries us back to another epoch I On March 15th the second bulletin told the Commissioners to be on their guard against the Royalist party. Vie were the Royalists of those days. " Paris,' said that bulletin, "is the heart and the brain of France.'' Several Voices—That is it. M. Rouher—l have been asked what I was doing at that time. I was struggling against the ♦iolence of the Ultra- Republicans in my province, and I remember that they threatened to throw us into the Seine if we were elected. On April 15, 1343, it was written that if the elections did not ensure the triumph of truth, they would be the ruin of the Republic; and that then the pc•ple who made the bar ricades would have but one course for safety, that of mani festing their will afresh, and adjourning the decisions of a false national representation. "Is it pos,ible," it was said, " that France can desire to force Paris to have recourse to this Extreme and deplorable remedy ? ' (Sensation.) 31. Pelletan—Those words have been disavowed. M. E. Picard—Did you contest the bulletin when it ap.. peared ? N. Rouher—To M. Pelletan I reply. Yes, the bulletin was disavowed, but after the elections had been made. (Noise.) It was said that it had been published by mistake instead of another, but it nevertheless weighed on the mind of France, and excited general indignation. M. Picard asks me if I protested. M. Thiers—But we aro not in the question. M. Rouher—l can understand the interruption of M. Thiers. His recollections are painful, bat we must know how to accept all solidarities—those of the past as well as those of the present. Some Voices —No, no. M. Picard—Confine yourself to your own parts. (Noise.) M. Thiers—At the epoch of which you speak I was on your side. (Renewed noise.) M, Rouher vindicated the right of the Government to in terfere in the elections, alleging the examples of all previous Governments from 1815 to 1818, in favour of the practice. He alleged that the Government could not make further concessions whilst there were hostile parties whose hopes were still directed to the overthrow of the Government. Jules Favre could not obtain a hearing, and the amend ment, affirming the principle of non-interference of the Government in the elections, was negatived—but the large ness of the minority, 44 votes, is considered as a triumph for the Opposition. CURIOUS DISCOVERY OF PICTURES AT GLOU.. CESTER.—The town-house of the wealthy family of Guise, a mansion of about Queen Anne's period, has lately been occupied as a school of art ; and during the alteration for this purpose, a projection of panelling in a small sitting-room, called "Pope's room," was removed, when a fine portrait of Pope was discovered behind it. On re moving the panelling on the opposite side another painting was revealed, since said to be the " Temptation," by Guido, A man in a rich dress of the time of Francois I. is holding up a string of pearls to a woman, who appears to bo resist ing his tempting offer. It is described as a remarkably fine painting. The pictures are now in the possession of Mr. Baylis, Thames-bank, Fulham. RAILWAY OPENINGS IN LONDON.-A railway, with branches, for the Isle of Dogs, 13 new bridges over the Thames, one new Thames Tunnel, two railways to go through the existing Thames Tunnel, a railway in the middle of the river itself, with stations at each of the bridges, new docks in the Isle of Dogs, nearly as largo as the East and West India Doeks put together, a dock in South Lambeth, new Courts of Justice, the crossing of Hol born Valley by a viaduct, Pneumatic Despatch tubes, a new arcade from Regent-street to Bond-street, a railway diagonally across Hyde Park, another transversely through ensington Gardens, two lines down Constitution Hill, going on through St. James's Park and uader, or over, the Admiralty; the classic land of Alsatia, or Whitefriars, scored for nine branches or junctions,the single street called Houndsditch contended for by tour competing lines, that Paradise of Mr. A. Smee's imagination, Finsbury Circus, the Promised Land of engineers, demanded by three companies, and—before our breath is gone, let us condemn the last we can contrive to name—a bridge to connect the thickly po pulated and highly salubrious district of Battersea with Chelsea—a thing fatal to the beauty of Cheyne Walk, the most picturesque street near ;—these are a few of the sub. jects upon which the House of Commons will have to de. tide in the approaching session. No HOME complete without A WILCOX AND GIRDS' SEWING-KACIIINE. Simple, compact, efficient, durable, and noiseless. Warranted to fulfil all the requirements of a perfect family machine. Prospectus free on application at No. Regent-street, W.—[AnvT.J [Anv Ewrismr.Nr.]—Consumption, all nervous, bilious liver, and atenaach complaints, in every stage, are only ag gravated and accelerated by drugs of every description, but perfectly curable by Du Barry's health restoring Revalenta Arabica Food, as proved by thousands of cases which had been considered hopeless. We quote a few.—Cure No. 62,914. Miss Lange, 18 years of age, cured after the medical men had abandoned all hope; of her recovery from the last stage of pulmonary consumption, with fearful cough, expectoration ; exhaustion, spitting of blood, perspirations, hollow cheeks, emaciated to a skeleton. She is now, thank God, a perfectly healthy, blooming, fleshy girl.—N. Lange, Commissaire de Police. Cure, No. 46,270. Mr. James Roberts of Friraley Surrey, of thlA•ty years' diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement, and partial deafness. —Cure, No. 47,121. Miss low spirits, an d nervous fancies.—Cure, No. Eli za beth Jacobs, of ext reme nervousne ss , i nd i gestion, 54,816. Me Rev. James T. Campb e ll , Pakenham, Norfolk of , indi g estionrr and torpidity of th e li ver, which had resisted all medical reatment. In tins, 11b, 2s ; 21b, 4a 6d ; 51b lie; 121 b, , , ' ) 2s• 241 b, 40s. Barry du B arry and Co., No. 77, ga therings, Regent-street, London ; also Fortnum and M ason; and all ~r ocers and chemists 11l every town of the United Kingdom. IRELAND. DL ELI:, Jan. 16. At the annual meeting of the Chamber of Commerce in Belfast yesterday a very interesting report was read upon the linen trade and the growth of flax. It states that the past year was one of general prosperity. All the machinery used in its different branches was in active operation, and the production of linen yarns and goods has exceeded that of any former time. Operatives were in constant employ ment at good wages, and the general trade of the town was consequently very favourably affected. The crop of flax in 1863 was unprecedented in extent, no less than 214,000 acres having been sown. The yield per acre was also above the average, and the crop was estimated at 60,000 tons, producing to the cultivators upwards of £5,000,000. This is an immense amount to receive for a single crop in one district of the country—but, unprecedentedly large as the produce was, it found a ready sale at highly remune rative prices. Nor has the manufacture of linen been overdone in Belfast, which is to the linen trade what Manchester is to the cotton trade. On the con trary, the year closed with stocks of yarns and linens reduced to the lowest point. It has been stated that when the American war is brought to a termination the demand for linen will be much reduced. The council adduce arguments to prove that this will not be the case. The supply of flax from all quarters has hitherto been inadequate to meet the constantly increasing requirements of the trade, so that in Scotland, where the coarser descriptions of linen are made, large quantities of hemp, jute, and other substitutes have been employed. The United Kingdom imports on an average of years seven tenths of its supply of flax, the greater portion of which comes from Russia, where it is grown of inferior quality under great disadvantage as regards climate. In Ireland, on the contrary, there are all disadvantages of soil and cli mate, and if it could meet the demand the importations from Russia would be immensely reduced. The council, therefore, come to the conclusion that not only the inte rests of Belfast, but the well-being of the agricultural classes of the whole of Ireland, depend very much on the extension of flax cultivation. The council report also that the external trade of Belfast is making such progress that the existing docks are quite insufficient for the commerce of the port, and that the Harbour Commissioners have conse quently entered into contracts for the construction of a large floating dock and a large graving dock, the works of which will be immediately commenced. Shipbuilding flourishes there also. Last year 80 vessels, all iron, of an aggregate tonnage of 7 ; 070, were launched, one being a screw steamer of 2,000 tons, and there are now five ships on the stocks. The report was unanimously adopted. Mr. William E wart, president of the Chamber for last year, was succeeded by Mr. Robert Henderson, who on taking the chair thanked the meeting for the honour conferred on him. A vote of thanks was then moved to the late president, which was passed with acclamation. The North-East Agricultural Association held its annual meeting in Belfast yesterday, its founder, the Marquis of Downshire, in the chair. Mr. Bingham, the secretary, read the report for the last year, from which it appeared that the prizes offered in money, medals, and honorary certificates were increased last year to the sum of £llO, in addition to the challenge cups, value £lB6. The report notices with regret that there were no entries of farms in the past year for the prizes offered for improved cultivation. The committee refer with satisfaction to the attention paid to their rules for the cultivation of flax, and give expres sion to the strong claims of the association on all persons connected with the linen trade, in consequence of the great expense incurred ,by it in promoting the cultivation of flax. Res dutions were moved and seconded by the Mayor of Belfast, Mr. W. Longtree, the Rev. Dr. Mont gomery, Major Maxwell, and Mr. Getty, M.P. The industrial exhibition of the 12th Regiment, the opening of which has bowl already noticed in Me Sun, was closed last night. The 12th Regiment furnishes occu pation and amusement to its literary members by the publication of a Gazette, and it is interesting to learn from their own " organ" what they think of this industrial effort, especially as it furnishes such an excellent example to every other regiment, showing how the men may be saved from the temptation and evils of idleness. The editor of the Gazelle says : "It is an exhibition of our industry—industry care led on in hours that heretofore we have wasted in riot and idleness; industry that has benefitted us in health and feeling; industry that will prove ,to the world at large and to our own personal friends that, soldiers though we be, we have not forgotten the trades and teaching of I our early life, and that we are fit for something more than mere ' food for powder.' One of the first and, we think, the most important features in our exhi bition, a feature which was early impressed upon the men of the regiment, and has been attended with the greatest success, was that the exhibition was open to all ranks, from the colonel to the drummer boy, from the recruit to the veteran of nigh 30 years' service, from the latest denizen of the cells to the proud owner of five good conduct stripes—to one and all was our exhibition open. Character was to be of no account, for, indeed, it was mainly for the sake of those of indifferent characters, and whose weakness and:natural infirmities led them into temp • tation and inevitable punishment and disgrace, that our preseut undertaking was attempted. Many there were who were without funds to purchase the materials for carrying out their designs, and as it would have been mistaken kind • ness to afford pecuniary assistance to those whose worst enemies were themselves, a uniform system was adopted of giving orders on tradespeople in the city through the trea- - surer, by which means the required material were delivered to the men in b,trracks, thereby saving them a long walk, and keeping the weak from temptation. All have worked with ready zeal, all have been animated by the desire to up hold the credit of their regiment, and it is no small gratifi• cation to 'Tact that, limited as our time has been, in no way has the discipline of the regiment been relaxed, on no account has working for the exhibition' been put forward as a plea for exemption from military duties." The oyster fisheries of Ireland aro now attracting serious attention. The dredging system is fast exhausting our most celebrated and productive public beds, such as those of Carlingford, the Foyle, and Swilly. Mr. Barry, Commis sioner of Fisheries, has been making a series of inquiries at Westport, Newport, and Sligo on the subject of oyster cul ture on the Atlantic coast. It is believed that were this pro perly attended to the oyster fishery would be far more valu able than the salmon fishery. No less a sum than £B,OOO was paid at Arklow, on the Wicklow coast, for oyster brood, to be laid down on French and English beds. Each brood oyster casts off myriads of young during the spawning sea son, each being furnished with a transitory swimming ap paratus. They float about on the surface for a while , and finally drop down to the sea bottom, and attach them selves by a natural gum to the pebbles, shells, and other hard substances. The coasts of Ireland are peculiarly suit able for oyster culture in its highest perfection. Clew and Newport Bays, the subject of the late inquiry by the Fishery Commissioners, have upwards of 50 miles of sea bottom ad mirably fitted for this purpose. That coast is indented with innumerable well-sheltered creeks and inlets, and an abun dance of fresh water flows into them under the most favour able conditions. Upon these facts the Freeman's Journal founds a sensible exhortation to the inhabitants along the Irish coasts : " Let, then, the fishermen and the proprietors of the fore shores cordially combine in turning to profitable account these great physical advantages. Let them, by benefiting themselves, save from destruction this abundant source of food, wealth, and employment. By pursuing the judicious course of culture so advantageously adopted in F rance and England the oyster fishery of Clew Bay a l on e will, upon the testimony of most competent authority, surpass th at of Whitstable ; extensive and profitable employment w ill be secured for thousands of our poor countrymen; and the fishermen, by cultivating the now neglected mine of wealth which lies at their own doors, and enriching themselves to the public advantage, will dismiss from their thought that besetting desire for emigration, which can only result in tha ruin of our country." The following document removes all uncertainty as to the ultimate destination of the head of the beautiful Princess do Lamballe, which was cut off, and carried through the streets of Paris, at the end of a pike, during the terror in 1793 Section of the 15-20. Per manent committee. September 3d. Year IV. of Liberty/ and I. of Equality. Citizen Jacques, Pointel of the Corn msrket, 6 de which he had succ eeded in obtainin g Rue des Y e tit s .Ch am ps, applied to the com mitteeforp9ermission to i n t er the head of the c i-d eva nt Princess possession of. As the patriotism and hum anit y of the said citizen 'could not but be c omm ended, we immediately pro. Lamballe, ceeded to the cemetery of the Enfans-Trouves, near the place where our committee met, and within our section, where we had the said head buried, and we have given the present act to serve the said citizen as a dischage and authorisation. Done in the committee, on the above-men tioned day and year.—DESEQUELLE, Commissioner of the 15-20."—This document was lately disposed of at a sale of autographs in the Rue Drouot. An Artesian well is at the present moment being bored in the neighbourhood of La Chapelle, and another at the top of the Butte-aux-Cailles, near the Gobelins, This latter, from its great elevation, will supply water to the highest parts of Paris on the left bank of the Seine. The first steamer for conveying passengers to Upper Egypt started last week. The arrangements are very good. The cabins, 52 in number, are large, airy, and well furnishoi. The dining room is on deck, and holds over 60 people. A doctor goes with every steamer. The charge is £3O first class, and £2O second, and the trip takes 20 to 25 days. [ADVERTISEMENT.] —Holloway's Ointment.—All va rieties of ulcerations, bad legs, sores, wounds, and erup tions can be cured by the diligent use of this cooling, soothing, and healing unguent. The old and often failing fashion Jtf strapping the edges of ulcers together with plaster has entirely given way beforo the mo re reasonable treatment by Holloway's Ointment, which builds up from the bottom of the wound with sound and healthy granula tions; these gradually grow till they reach the lever of the surface, then contract. harden, and immediately become covered with a new and whelesoma skin. The proper application of this Ointment diminishes the inflammation, causes the unhealthy discharge first to grow thick, then to cease, when the swelling disappears and the natural shape is restored. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. SATURDAY REVIEW.—WO do not intend to weary ourselves with recounting all the little squabbles of the Shakspeare Memorial Committee. The com mittee has attracted to itself, somehow or other, names honourable and dignified ; but the original promoters have not as yet sold out. The secretaries, who, we suppose, appointed themselves, as most secretaries do, have contrived to make the Shak speare Memorial a very unpleasant chapter in the annals of contemporary literature. And now many of the gentlemen who have been imported into the committee are doing their best to preserve, if it be possible, from utter shipwreck the whole scheme, which, merely as a scheme for honouring Shak speare's memory, deserves every encouragement. The past, however, cannot be undone. The ugly little episode in which an affront was intended, or at least inflicted, on the late Mr. Thackeray, must remain as a piece of personal pique and very bad management, as well as bad taste, exhibited by somebody. The misunderstandings between Lon don and Stratford ought to have been prevented. Such an unseemly meeting as that of last Monday ought never to have been necessary. An executive committee which is so badly administered that its se cretaries permit the newspapers to publish a draft report which had never even been considered in com mittee, is evidently unfit for the functions it has assumed. The gentlemen of this committee have done the work of " promoters" by getting some good and honourable names added to their body, but it is quite plain that they are fit for nothing else. Nor is this to be wondered at. If such veteran students in Shakspeare as Messrs. Collier, and Dyce, and Knight are not entrusted with devising the best means of honouring Shakspeare, it is no great won der that small authors and small artists, editors and paragraph writers, surveyors and popular journal ists fail. If this Shakspeare Memorial is not a genuine success, it will be a very disreputable na tional failure. As was very properly observed on Monday, " the Committee was compromised in the face of Europe." The name and fame of Shakspeare are too precious and too solemn a trust to be com promised by even an approach to those little arts of jobbery and self-seeking of which we have seen too much in Albert Memorials and Great Exhibition Memorials. Certain names and certain influences recur periodically in these Memorial Committees. The Society of Arts, according to its wont, has im parted its usual spirit of meddlesomeness into an other" national" commemoration. We have no great wish to see a great Shakspeare statue erected —and of course it is hoped to erect it in that chosen home of all jobs, the South Kensington site—and decorated with an inscription as brazen and preten tious as their own estimate of their own merits, re cording all the Presidents and Vice-Presidents and Secretaries and Committees who have made capital out of the name of Shakspeare. We have an anti cipatory dread and horror of Mr. Bellew and his lectures. We see in the threatening distance fancy fetes and Crystal Palace celebrations to eke out the funds. The vision of pretty actresses exhibiting themselves and their admirers under the mighty name of Shakspeare is not encouraging. The provincial programme proposed by the Committee scarcely reassures us. To order a national holiday for the 23d April is a feat of self-confidence which savours somewhat more of boldness than pru dence. To declare that the committee will on that day lay the first stone of a memorial for which most inadequate subscriptions are as yet forthcoming, and for which probably no design is prepared, is a little strong, not to say premature. To offer medals for prize poems on Shakspeare revives horrible re miniscences of Mr. Phelps spouting Miss Isa Craig's dithyrambics in honour of poor Burns at Syden ham ; and the Shaksperian Soiree to be held in Westminster Hall suggests speeches which it is a nightmare even to speculate upon. It is all very well to nominate Archbishops and Dukes and Pre sidents of Artistic Societies to do this, that, and the other; but will they come when they are called? and are the provinces of the Site Committee, and the Address Committee, and the Dramatic Com mittee, and the Finance Committee, and the Execu tive Committee adjusted and understood ? The un toward circumstances connected with the Aston Park job, and the use that was made of distin guished patronage on that discreditable occasion, render us, if not suspicious, at least cautious. As things stand, the managing "parties" have done little to attract, much to alienate, public confidence. The national honour is concerned in everything connected with such an undertaking as a Shaks peare Memorial. If good t as te , perfect straight forwardness, and entire self-renunciation do not connect themselves with the scheme, let it perish as an abortive instance of bad management, bad taste, and bad feeling—characteristics which we regret to see are not altogether absent from the proceedings as they stand. Our national neglect to render the I honour due to the name of Shakspeare, and the un happy absence of a public monument, may still plead Milton's noble apology : What needs my Shakspeare, for his honoured bones, The labour of an age in piled stones ? Or that his hallowe reliques should be hid Under a star-ypointing pyramid ? Dear Son of Memory, great heir of Fame, What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name? Thou, in our wonder and astonishment, Hast built thyself a live-long monument. For whilst, to the shame of slow endeavouring art, Thy easy numbers flow; and that each heart Hath, from the leaves of thy unvalued book, Those Delphick lines with deep impression took; Then, thou, our fancy of itself bereaving, Dost make us marble with too much conceiving; And, so sepulchred, in such pomp dolt lie, That kings, for such a tomb, would wish to die. And we had rather that this disgrace, if such it is, should continue than that an attempt should be made to redeem it by anything which even looks like meanness, bad taste, and a job. READER.—With all due deference to the Anti- Commemorationists—and we confess to a sympathy with Anti •Commemorationism in general—we sub mit that their interpretation and application of Milton's lines are capable of being disputed. We do not see that, Milton's though they be, they need smash Tercentenary. " What needs our Shake speare for his honoured bones ?" is Milton's ques tion; and if that were the question now, the answer would still be, as Milton volun teered it, "No visible monument at all, but only that reading and re-reading of his works which makes ourselves his marble.' But that is not the question now: Two hundred and thirty three years have elapsed since then; and Shak speare is not now to us the Warwickshire poet and player recently dead, and whom we might have seen many a time in Fleet-street or Blackfriars, but an olden hero of our nation, whose form and man ner as he lived we strive eagerly to fancy through the mythical mist, and whose name and fame are identified with oar highest intellectual exultatione, and all our notions of the historical greatness of Eng land. The question no v is not" What needs Shak speare ?" but "What needs our feeling for Shak speare?" There is a considerable difference. It is not for Shakspeare's sake,nor because any honour can be done to him, that the Tercentenary Commemoration is proposed; it is because the strength of our na tional feeling about Shakspeare would vent itself, according to a natural instinct which has existed among men since the beginning of the world, in some suitable form of expression on an occasion so marked as the three-hundredth anniversary of his birth. This is the true principle of monuments and commemorations—it is not that they do anything for the dead; it is that the feelings of the living require them, or find delight in them. The pas sion for such public celebrations is, no doubt, weaker in these recent times than it was in times of old ; and there is at least a considerable sect who, as opposed to all such shows and excitements, may be called Anti-Commemorationist on principle. But the Commemorationists—those who think that it is a right and proper thing to have occasional public celebrations of important anniversaries—are still in the majority ; and on the present occasion, it would appear, they are overwhelmingly in the majority. While a few people here and there are in ill temper with the whole Tercentenary business of which they are hearing so much, and keep mum bling to themselves Milton's words, "What needs my Shakspeare ?" as if these words Battled the question, the overwhelmning majority seem to have made up their minds that, for once, Britain may try a celebration on a national scale, and that, if only proper arrangements are made for such a cele bration on the next 23d of April, they will go heartily into it. When it is remembered that our Poet-Laureate has signified his approval of the in tended Commemoration by accepting a Vice-Presi dency in connexion with both the London and the Stratford-on-Avon preparations, it will be seen that this is a case in which many in whose nature it would bo rather to discourage public celebrations than to delight in them have concluded that an 'exception may fitly be made. But all depends on the nature of the arrangements that are made beforehand. The willingness of the public to join in a national celebration of the Ter centenary, if they c an be told the proper way, is nearly all that has yet been avowed ; and the cele bration may yet be wrecked, or crippled, or dwarfed by mismanagement on the part of those who have dertaken to organise it. Whether, as far as Lon , u d u en is concerned, irretrievable damage has not already been done by recent unfortunate occurrences remains to be seen. LosapoN REVIEW.—Why should Shakspeare have a statue? There are no distinct memories of the greatest poet of the world. In spite of Gervinus and the Gernians he has neither a history nor a personality. To Englishmen and to manhind at large he has become a voice. Like Ramer he has passed out of the region of statues and of portraits into the re lm 9f mists and shadows. A statue to the blind Father of Greek poetry would be a less ap propriate memorial than a temple. We give statues to those whom we wish to immortalise, not to those who are already immortal. A cathedral is the only fitting monument that England could erect to Shakspeare. The notion of a statue originally pro ceeded from a clumsy but well-meant desire to do national honour to a genius whose art will make the English language classical to all time. If it is not too late to reconsider the scheme, it is to be hoped it may be reconsidered in the interests both of good taste and of art. Thousands of lovers of Shakspeare will never contribute to such a plan, con taining, as it does, endless possibilities of ludicrous failure and fiasco. Who is to choose the man to make the statue ? Is it to be Sir Joseph Paxton, the Lord Mayor, and Mr. William Tite, whose names occupy so conspicuous a place on the committee, to nominate the site, or are we to have universal suffrage, the ballot boxes to b© held by Mr. Hep worth Dixon ? Before everything else, the public naturally asks in whose hands so great a piece of artistic patronage is to lie. There are many indi viduals who would use it well, but not so many so well known as to command general confidence and respect. It is in vain to summon the country to follow without informing them definitely who is to be their leader. Mr. Palgrave proposes to substi tute for the present unwieldy executive of the nascent association a small knot of four or five first rate men, whose judgment may be trusted and who are known for their genius and good sense. He is right in believing that the present course will end in disappointment ; and, if the association are wise, they will listen to his suggestion. A decisive reason for altering the constitution of the managing com mittee is, that they have begun with remarkable energy to quarrel among themselves. Those who know the way in which societies and associations are got up, need not be surprised to hear it. Efforts for promoting somebody's benefit, or for doing some one honour, are usually set on foot by the nobodies of various professions. The work is easy, and re quires no ability. Barristers without business are very fond of promoting something. Second-rate literary men have the same morbid wish to create some sensation in the world. They are glad to look forward to seeing their names in the advertisement columns of the Tmes, in close proximity to noble men and bishops. The first step is to meet and form a committee. The next thing is to get a few illustrious outsiders to lend their names to leaven the lump. This is plain sailing; for if the object of the organisation be plausible, the illustrious out siders never refuse ; and noblemen are gregarious animals and go together for public purposes in droves. The management remains with the ener getic nobodies, while the great outsiders are used as decoy-ducks to attract attention, and to lend lustre to the whole. This suits everybody, especially the outsiders. It also affords perpetual gratification to the virtuous promoters. They reap their re ward in sitting by Lord Brougham in council, in being on a joint sub committee with the Archbishop of Canterbury, or perhaps in fetching the Lord Chancellor an orange when he is in the middle of a speech to a public meeting. These are the gentle men who are usually so active in getting up asso ciations and demonstrations, and it is very natural that they should begin to quarrel when once the scheme is in full swing. The prominent members of the Shakspeare Committee do not seem to be ex empt from the failings that are incidental to their position. They have the passions of their kind. The proceedings recorded in the papers seem very much on a par with the regular proceedings of a public meeting of shareholders in a railway com pany. Every body is dissatisfied with everybody else—especially with the directors—and has not the slightest hesitation in saying so. Votes of censure upon the managing committee are freely bruited to and fro. Mr. Hepworth Dixon disagrees with Mr. Tomlins, and Mr. Marston rises " to order " amidst considerable confusion." Mr. Martin attempts to address the meeting in the midst of such manifes tations of impatience and cries of "spoke " that he is completely " inaudible." Irregular skirmishing takes place as to whether amendments are " regu lar," and whether Mr. Hepworth Dixon and his coadjutor have not taken too much upon themselves. This is the national committee which is to do honour to Shakspeare. Most of the speakers are utterly unknown beyond their own clique, and some of those who are known are known to be second-rate in their profession. Of the illustrious outsiders who are so conspicuously advertised we see and hear nothing. Like Essex, they know better than to be there. The consequences of their absence are per ceptible. Already an unseemly piece of bad taste has brought the managers of the concern into dis grace, with respect to one great man who has sud denly passed away from us. Nor until a very dif ferent Directory takes the lead will the country give the association any but the most limited confi dence. The best advice to be bestowed on one and all of them is that the committee should purge it self. A self-denying ordinance is wanted. Those whom the public does not know at all, as well as those whom the literary public knows too well, will do good service to the cause by retiring into that honourable obscurity from which they are right in wishing to emerge, but from which they are wrong in trying to use Shakespeare as a stepping-stone. Where are those gentlemen who ought in so great a manifestation to be acting as managers and secre taries ? Where is Monckton Milnes, the Dean of St. Paul's, Sir C. Eastlake, Lord Granville, Mr. Foley ? Their names are on the list, but the reins do not seem to be in their hands. They may rest assured that the sooner they take the conduct of the matter, the sooner the world at large will begin to interest itself warmly in its success. SPECTATJR.—Centenary celebrations are exotics in this country. The idea comes from Germany, and has been acclimatised in England by the enter prising speculators of the Crystal Palace. Atter all there is something lobe said for a musical festival in honour of Handel or Mozart; their music is always charming to listen to ; and it may be performed with equal appropriateness on one day as on another. There is, however, something exquisitely absurd in the notion of pass ing a national vote of thanks by acclamation to Shakespeare, and the projectors of this ingenious scheme seem painfully aware of the absurdity of their own proposal. Nobody can suggest any mode of celebration which is not either impossible or ludi crous. The original conception of the great London Committee was to erect a statue in one of the central parks in honour of the great dramatist, Whether there exists any authentic likeness of Shakespeare at all is a question on which opinions are divided, and it is quite within the bounds of possibility that the proposed statue, even if it ever gets beyond the hypo thetical stage, might be a likeness of some person who bore no more resemblance to Shakespeare than to Messrs. Collyer or Halliweil. Leaving aside this initial difficulty, we all know beforehand that such a statue would be certain to be an eyesore and a nui sance. The Iron Duke at Hyde Park Corner and the Guards' Memorial in Waterloo-place are quite bad enough, without our disfiguring London with a third and even more unsuccessful attempt of a similar kind. Moreover, such a project would entail a large outlay of money, and the public has remained utterly and obstinately deaf to any appeal for money on behalf of the Shakespeare memorial. One hundred thou sand was the first amount demanded, then twenty thousand was suggested as a compromise, and finally we hear of rumours that "a neat thing in stone" might be put up for some twentieth part of the ori ginal demand. Practically, therefore, we may assume that the idea of a statue has been abandoned, and in default of that we are offered a performance of Shakesperian mosic—whatever that may be—a representation of ono of Shakespeare's plays at the two national theatres ; and a conversazionc in Westminster Hall, at which the characters of Hamlet and Lady Macboth are to be discussed between the intervals of tea and sherry negus. The Stratford-on-Avon Comnittee has not quite equalled its London compeers in absurdity, from the simple fact that this body has a sort of faint shadowy raison d'etre. The sole glory of Stratfurd is in con nection with Shakespeare. In the words co' Steevens, " All that is known with any degree of ce?tainty concerning Shakespeare is, that he was born at Stratford-on-Avon, married, and had children there, went to London, where he commenced actor, and wrote plays and poems , returned to Stratford, made his will, died, and was buried." If therefore, the memory of the dramatist has a local habitation anywhere it is at Stratford; and if the neighouring gentry like to put up a monument to Shakespeare in his native town nobody can object to their doing so. This very reasonable proposal, however, is coupled with a plan that all the lions of England, and every body who wishes to see the said lions, shall spend a w eek at Stratford, iu solemn contemplation o f th e genius of Shakespeare—a plan which, doubtl ess , commends itself to the intellect of the landlords and lodging-housekeepers of the dull little War wickshire town, but is not likely to find favour with the public. The amateur suggestions fur doing honour to the tercentenary are even wore wonderful than those put forward by its profes sional patrons. A tradesman suggests a commemo rative medal, to be struck, of course, under his own superintendence. A correspondent to one London journal proposes a gigantic monument on the top of Primrose-hill; another wishes for a "boulevard" leading from Charing-cross to Hampstead-hill; third proposes the erection of a new city in a thriv ing district to be called Shakespeare-town, and containing Hamlet-street, Verona -crescent, Romeo square, and so on. Finally, a grave public newspaper recommends a general - holiday, on the idea that admiration of Shakespeare's genius will thus be diffused amidst our worki ng classes, just es loyalty is implanted in the hearts of our school boys by en extra week's vacation on the occasion of a royal marriage. The manner in which the —..----- . idea has been worked out so far is on a par with its innate absurdity. We have no wish to ester onoe merits of the various squabbles in whi ch the don Shakespeare Committee has been involved during ° its short and inglorious career ; we loo k simply is the facts patent to the world, w i thou t touching the internal history of this unsuccessful agitate* Four hundred and odd gentlemen, all of more or, less rank, or position, or reputation have forelect, themselves in a society for the props Shakespeare's fame. The persons who, to us°, most apropriate Yankee phrase, formed the „bagi beetles'' of the body, gave it their adhesion, Part,,,,g because they thought it the proper thing to esPr t : an abstract admiration for Shakespeare, partlf 7 it cause, as men of rank, they rather liked the er,e„u ho of being connected with a literary movement. 1"_ working bees of the organization consisted of prv ta . gatiou oti, fessional literary men. Now we have no Vii s , : h y , say anything against our own class, and web e"%i that, as a rule, authors and men of letters are 11 ,.., so jealous of each other, nor so incapable of act w o ° , together, as men whose profession is either law' or medicine, or theology. If any great principle or ~ human interest bad been involved in th is Shale, 0 perian movement, literary rivalries and jeal°llBtile. would have been at once forgotten by the g e/3 :e, men who had undertaken to aid in its proseov Unfortunately this was not the case. With thee 13 ~ ception of some dozen persons whose hobbl--. Shakespeare, probably not one member of the cee're mittee cared a sixpenco personally whether there was a tercentenary celebration or not. It ° To l e no want of charity to suppose that the bulk 0 ' ye , acting members attached themselves to the °foto ment with a view of bringing their names be'ro the world. In so doing they used a very °tuing and perfectly irreprehensible method of aciv4l3,-heir their professional interests. They give in , 0 1 names for exactly the same reasons that barrisoo, join a society for the study of the law, or that "co( tors subscribe to a testimonial for the dis co tins' some improvement in the art of i lefi c oor If, however, you give your guinea , 00 d i e s• five guineas, as the case may be, cote men some return for your money ; and all the g e i 7 co to men who took an active part in what, by a our to euphemism, was described as doing 120 11 9 11 `,w0 Shakespeare's memory, wished to have their w t , o f names brought forward in connection with tu a rre to the Swan of Avon. Hence arose the various c1 115 :10 which have amused the critical public. Their and nature may in every case be briefly desor l a it by saying that Mr. Septimus Smith eonside fe r gt extremely undesirable for his own interests th, a ' ' t i l e Sextus Smith should ta leading share ' n c i f a proceedings, and utterlyunreasonable that 00t,tbit Smith should even wish to do so. The result 0 sit state of things is that nine months have been 1 - cr i , in alternate phases of mutual admiration anrir-cei mination, and that the acting Council has Pituted' a report which the general committee has or: 4 1o! The ill-luck which invariably pursues unsue c :oto enterprise brought the committee into an unf ert "; 01l dispute with regard to the late Mr. Thacker tl i 00 the very eve of the great novelist's death; an: g ar result has bleu to throw an accidental arid ", - 0 of served obloquy on its later acts. The “1 11 $ 13 , e isti° Shakespeare are not, we suspect, likely to be bioll fled by tercentenary festivities. Possibly tbj AO that his works are to be found in every ,„.. 14 :iiot library, that his plays are acted on every -F .411 , 1 °,0 4 stage, and that no Englishman can speak $ „ - o tiog earnest sentences without unconsciously t 1,7,, - cot Shakespeare, may console the departed gelPir ri tor the loss of a statue and a soilee at Virest n3l) Hall. COUNTRY MARKETS. ,1. NORTHAMPTON—SATURDA.Y. We had a moderate show of wheat on offer at tif io tie market to-day, in middling condition. The trade tie ther quiet, and recent rates were not supported. t Is o little animation in barley. Oats and beans dull, Pe rates.—White wheat, 40s to 47s ; red, 395 to 428; 4.1,,1 to —s per qr. Barley, 35s to 37s—grinding. 2.70 Oats, 26s to 33s per 24 stone. Beans, 385 to 4 15 * 30s to 38s per qr. YORK—SATURDAY. mare eapi, 1P There was a fair attendance of farmers at mar t e 0 8 tlaP but the supply of wheat was hardly so large a li e d • - .„ e l A languid feeling in the trade, and buyers 81 1 11 3 4 d, wants at currencies is per qr in thei r favour. Ilan a sluggish demand. Oats and beans also slow. . to'l o , Wheat, red 3Bs to 41s Oats.... ....... ,s, to I White do .42s to 46 s B eans ........ ,to ;30 , Barley .28s to 32s Peas ......... ••"0 0 al, Malt, 58s to 60s per qr. ; rye, 30s per qr.; to 32s per sack. LEICESTER—SATURDAY. We were supplied with a fair quantity of iv. - .„ t o from the growers, but a dull demand, and late prl 18 per qr lower than last week. Barley was alB o , l- er: )t. —New white wheat, 44s to 46;" • `red, 44 s to 4 90 roislP stone. Old red, 39s to 41s per 36'stone. BarleY, dog new, 32v,t0 35s per qr.; grinding, 27s to 295; c 'i3o o ' 25s to 28s; new oats, 21s to 23s per 24 s tono. A tj toN old, 40s to 42s per 38 stone ; flour, 283 to 32 s per :2u NORWICH_SATURDAY. v ia There was a good supply of wheat, but millers net t , , 0 0 at all free buyers the advance established last wee ua lost.. A fair supply of barley, and prices the sael° this day se'nnight. Flour 6d per sack cheaper. t 049 White wheat. 44s to 46i 1 Red wheat ........ 1315t0P Malting barley 36s to 37s 1 Chevalier barley•••,;;:to 0i Distilling do 30s to 32s I Oats.. ............ Flour, 28s Od to —s Od per sack from thew' of NOTTINGHAM—SATURDAY . d oce te, At this corn market to-day there was a fair att elj to lerA b p farmers and factors, and the show of wheat w aB j o ut 12.4. Sales were slow, at is reduction upon the Pr0,1, r 9 , to fl og —White wheat, from 41s to 45s ; red wheat, ' 3 o s . vr,Bl Barley—malting, 30s to 388 ; grinding, 26s to o ld tit old, at 24s to 31s Od ; new, 19s to 255. Dean s to 42s per qr. ; new, 34s to 365. 365 t,; GRANTHAM—SA.TUnD).Y. ner ft Old white wheat, 44s to 48s • red, 39s to 42 0 r e bar' e i ) now white, 40s to 45s ; red, 32s to 428. M altin Tcl ‘ 2.° 33s to 36s per qr ; grinding, 28s to 30s ; oats, to 28s; new, 20s to 24s ; beans, 38s to 40s; peg , 34° Foreign Mail Packet List• T S' MAILS DUE. . / I° ' 0' Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. ...... jail' 3, _ via Marseilles ........ • fel). , ; 9, brazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. ...... : pp' S. Cape of Good Hope, A scens i on , an d S. Ilele 119 : Ise . O , China, Penang, and Singapore, via SouthainP ,- .Jse' vi a Marseilles .• is. Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampt on ................. ,J O. O. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, vi a SoutharaP tcli. JO' 0. via Marseillea..e•jsa. 11. India (Bombay), via Southampton ............. Jia 3, via Marseilles ................. feb, Portugal.... ........... ._ . ......... .21. Malta, Egypt, and Aden, v . i. e a . 8:3 .............. ..... . SO' O. via Marseilles ....... ,Jsrl Newfoundland ................ ~ .20, ............. .., ,_ O , Oporto and Vigo U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. paelr, et ;::. -,-. 0 V' by U.S. paes e ,o t et:,.';:b. 10. by Canadian 1 ) ' ......,r ` b 11 , W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneritie ........ ex c . 0' .e.' .. ..isr l ' , Bahamas, via New York .... • • 420 , Mexico.. .... .eFerti., I so. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, California. and British C01umbia........ ter' The Belgian journals state that among the s o til rlir G a rden 013 101' who attracted attention in the Zoological a bpu , s r, seis last week was an English gentleman W ag° f POP I that o t iro Among other feats which he performed h pl a ned 20 fee over three obstacles nearly two feet hig h, ba t t each other. raeot i°P o r° A letter from Basle in Switzerlan d .. 0 0 se ~0 the cold is intense there, the winter being llisoor,,el:3til for many years past. The streams are all froz en o to 4 the fields covered with snow. A man Nos f r -,,,a1e. at Neerbach; another at Avry; and a third at P .—On the 15th inst., Births. 00 4 ALDERTON he wile of W. of a daUg,,te.„Lototy' BE t J. Alderton, at 14, RNMAIIDT.—On the 17th in Esq., at No. 7, A'...,c iird t t t i r e race Holland-street Camd Bt" 1111 liensingt°"' wife of Fr6d6ric de ' Bernhardt en- ' ' alter. if, ,of a daa. Lull BLOOMFIELD.—On the 15th inst., at The Lodge , "" GR th E e E wite of Captain G. C. Bloomfield, of a 15 011 , ere v _ a r/.—On the 15th inst., at Lee, ',Lent, Mrs. JJ' fson. Cie' WIGAN . On the 14th inst., at Sutton Court Loge' wick, the wife of Frederick Wigan, BK. , (4 6 6°l2s raadltorsv., Marriages. , We i ' Lu_AISDAINE—BRIGGS.—On the 14th inst. at , i a l a n li fo ° ' B u_ar ain 14. S. Lumsdaine, ',M..A. of inst., jjrgo hi e, to Anna Maria, , of DaVl - daughta Esq., Commander R. 1 „, b t r WALLEn—BAUTON.-0 the 12th inst., at Offe, - ~r b t 'OA' B ltev. o A n:E E s . q N . V , aoilleiir,anvgicenamrooofrKin 'aSutton, I .' ° 'l . t i ; J' . to a n r s t hire, to Mary Louisa, only Lughter of the ' 4 Deaths. i .,,,diPP BIDDLE BULLE u Charles. i on Y e. . l — Bß O iud n idiel t ey h : o 14th inst., at b thAfi:brodtB:i•ll, '.- Li ejir '7 aged • der-Edg e, On the 9th inst., atWooton-under-xwio Cuisr.--On to 13 aBg t: ecid in 6 s 9 t . , at7B4eceles, Suffolk, Jo b° p c,ia , of ben ' , E'l , aged 85. .- DEACON.—On the 13th inst., at Bath, Alari 4llll ' W .,id idc' S l o relict of the late James Justus Deacon 85c1"13g..-scl'ir'l! 4, Gn.A.NvILLn.—On the 16th inst., at 69, C heD jivil •'). v W ic i e l , li a am ged G 7 r o a . nville, Eeq., late of the Cell' al ' HUNTER.--On the 15th inst., 01 Laurence Pountney-lane, aged 71. tkO jig. QUICKE.—On the 14th inst„ at Winchester, the ita . -- ,, e Jamea Hunter, Pq, of 112, Strand, London : _Pra,• 77, • plPu Zed and ruhrilelied by WILLISU OulceAM Ca Strand, 31 the Precinct 0; the Liavoy , 3 1 tl' e 411L itlegex — MOud a y , January 18, 180._ Printer a t Tun N THE tcp,/P,ll £l,OOO at pre it ispOt g or ma th e fi Inc„, r • APPlii f or tit A reei teq gr , It el Xtil4, ,„ 4 e4 - "e4t. s si tl„ 4„1: 11 ' Joh„ Joh, lt, BB Ate„ll To th 9 G en tti t a nd i4re e Of 411-ex icon b eAM Cl 1511a1 toy 1 11g; rJr ,